Branch of Sakura
by Higanbana.4
Summary: Kuchiki Rukia: the girl with a terminal illness  An orange-haired Shinigami: the man sent to kill her  Based on a children's legend. Rated T for Ichi's potty mouth.
1. Chapter 1

Hi. I came up with this idea after reading a fairy tale. See if you can guess which one I read :) It's a bit sudden, but I suddenly got the inspiration for this and didn't stop typing until 2:30 in the morning. The first chapter is more of a prologue, actually. Enjoy.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. If I owned it, IchiRuki would happen :'(

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><p>.<p>

Bring! Brrrrring! The ringing of the sleek, black cell phone lying on the equally dark smooth surface of mahogany wood cut into the formerly peaceful silence. The dark-haired man reluctantly reached out his arm and picked the small rectangle of plastic and metal up with one elegant, long-fingered (and manicured) hand.

Slowly, slowly, he raised it to his ear and pressed the 'talk' button.

"Hello, Mr. Kurenai. We apologise if this phone call is an inconvenience, we know your very tight schedule hardly leaves room to take calls." Said the smooth, practiced, honeyed voice. "We regret to inform you of your daughter's condition." The tall man sucked in a breath. Here it was.

Outwardly, his expressions radiated utmost calm and lack of any form of feeling. Inside, there was a veritable storm of emotion.

Kurenai Seiichiro dreaded the words that came next; "Our complete analysis shows that unfortunately, your daughter is predicted to be unlikely to live until 20 years of age." The dark-haired man felt like he had been sucker-punched.

Not live until 20? Preposterous! It shouldn't be. Even sooner than her… than Kaguya.

If only by thinking her name, he felt a sting of loss. And pain. He would stop it. He had been unable to save his dear wife, and he refused to let his beloved daughter succumb to the same fate.

The women born in Kaguya's side of the family carried the sickness in their blood. About the time when puberty started, the symptoms of the sickness would begin to show.

Although Seiichiro and Kaguya had known about this before they married, they had still chosen to have a child regardless. They had hoped, prayed that maybe good fortune would befall them and their daughter whom they had named Rukia would be spared of the same fate.

And then, Kaguya had passed away. Leaving Seiichiro broken and in mourning. He had not had long to feel the loss of his wife before a new issue came up. Rukia had begun to show the symptoms. It was a surprisingly early age, the girl was only 6 years old.

Immediately, Seiichiro had been roused from his state of near-numbness.

He had taken 6 year old Rukia to the hospital and the girl had undergone various tests for weeks on end.

They'd monitored her diet, her blood sugar levels, carbon levels, fat levels, amount of water, done urine tests, there were too many to count.

Finally. Finally, now, Seiichiro had heard the results of the testing. And they weren't to his liking at all.

"Is there a way that the progress of the sickness can be extinguished, or at least delayed?" the man demanded.

"Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely halt the progression of the sickness," recited the voice. Seiichiro narrowed his eyes.

"However, there is a way to slow the degradation of your daughter's condition."

"What is it?" the dark-haired man inquired.

"It will be mandatory for her to remain in the hospital at all times, where the hospital staff will constantly monitor her condition and she will take a series of medicines and injections that will be able to delay the sickness for a while." The voice replied.

"Fine." Seiichiro said. "Have this treatment used on her until a permanent solution is found."

"Yes, sir." Said the voice. "The hospital will comply with your decision. And now, about the costs…"

The young girl, hidden behind the thick oaken door had heard ever word that had transpired, through a clear-cut glass pressed to her ear from the door. The child's indigo-blue eyes were widened in shock.

Her father was going to send her away? Why? She had only just gotten back! She had been looking forward to some quality fun time with her dad after weeks of confusion.

Plus, where was mom? Hadn't dad noticed that mom was gone? Maybe her mom was playing hide-and-seek, but she surely had to have been found by now! Where was she? And why was dad so quiet now? Why was he sad? She wanted to know.

Maybe she could comfort him, but only if she was sent away, then how could she make her dad feel better? It wouldn't work! Her mom was still gone, dad was upset, and she was being sent somewhere away from home.

She didn't understand at all, although she loved and trusted her father very much, she could not understand why.

_Why? I don't want to go…_

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><p>This chapter was a bit short. Usually, I type at least 1000 words per chapter :( I promise the next chapter will be longer.<p>

Yup, I used OCs for Rukia's family in this fic. Don't hate me for it. Also, I apologize beforehand because I KNOW that I update infrequently. Sorry about that.

Anyways, hope ya liked it (the fic) :)


	2. Chapter 2

*Sigh.* This was such a pain in the ass to add spaces between lines... 2000 or so words, not bad for me :) Can you guess the fairy tale yet? Never mind, I won't nag. I'll tell about the fairy tale at the end of the story.

No matter how much I want to own Bleach, I can't :'(

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><p>Kurenai Rukia lay on her bed, eyes half-closed. Watching the world through a light veil of sleep.<p>

Almost unbidden, thoughts rose to her mind. Images, only partially remembered.

_A mop of bright, almost fluorescent orange hair… blue, flower-shaped hairpins… a horrible shrieking cry… a sword bound in white._

Tearing her mind away, Rukia yawned and stretched like a cat. With a visible effort, she sat up in the pristine, white hospital bed. As the girl fully opened her eyes, the last vestiges of sleep were burned away as a sudden beam of strong sunlight shone through the window.

The brightness dazzled her at first, then, her indigo eyes opened wide with shock.

At the window was a silhouette.

The form of a human, outlined in fiery light.

The man (yup, it's a dude) was tall, his face cast in shadows against the brilliance of the sunlight. His short hair spiked at unnatural angels, as though defying gravity.

His hair… it was… _orange_.

At the sudden realization, the girl felt an odd pang in her heart. Something almost akin to… nostalgia. _But, for what? _She wondered.

The feeling only deepened as her eyes fully took the strange man in.

He was dressed in odd black robes, similar to those which she had seen before in her history textbooks. _Why… This strange… familiarity..?_

Then, the man spoke, snapping Rukia out of her reverie.

"Kuchiki Rukia. I am here to take your life."

_What the hell? _In that instant, Kurenai Rukia awoke.

"What the hell is with you? Do you have something wrong with your head? My name is not 'Kuchiki!' it's Kurenai! Ku-re-nai Rukia!"

"Whatever. Kurenai, Kuchiki, there isn't a difference. I'm here to kill you and that's that." The orange-haired man scowled.

For an instant, Rukia thought that she saw something other flit across the man's face. _Regret… guilt..? No. Sadness._ But the brief flicker in his face lasted only for a second. The next, his face had resumed its former look. The man was scowling even harder than before, if that was even possible. Rukia told herself that she must have only imagined it.

Then, her thoughts promptly returned to more important matters. Such as giving the weird carrot-top freak a piece of her mind.

"'I'm going to take your life'? Who the hell do you think you are? Get out of my room before I call the cops on you, you stalker-ish cosplaying baka!" she yelled at the man.

Not to her surprise, the man replied to her insults by yelling back; "Shut the hell up you damned midget! For your information, I'm a shinigami! A fucking 'God of Death' and I've been ordered to kill you, so there! If it weren't for my orders, I wouldn't even be here in the first place! Who'd be mad enough to want to stalk you?"

That did it. One thing Kurenai Rukia would not take was being called short. The girl's back was ram-rod straight, her eyes narrowed dangerously and her hands clenched, white-knuckled in her snowy bed sheets. "Like hell I'll believe that!" she screamed at him.

Continuing angrily, Rukia hollered "Even if there were such things as shinigami, they wouldn't be like you!"

"Just shut the fuck up already, stupid midget!" the man hollered back.

"I am NOT short!" the girl replied, her eyes practically burning in undisguised hatred.

If looks could kill, then the man would've been dead long ago.

"Plus," Rukia went on, "In pretence that your story is true, which it obviously isn't, but why would you be ordered to kill me?"

"That," the man answered in a normal tone, "is because you have committed the gravest sin of all. A breach of the rules. It is unacceptable for a shinigami to be reincarnated. Kurenai Rukia. You should not have been born."

At those words, the girl's eyes crystallized into steely cobalt blue. Her face was white with shock and anger.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe even hurt.

Rukia swung her legs off of the hospital bed and crossed the distance between the two in a matter of seconds. Her loose white nightgown billowed around her, as she stood directly in front of the window gaping open and brought her hand forward in a stinging slap against the orange-haired man's cheek.

His head snapping around with the force of the blow, the man's last thought before toppling backwards into blank space was; _She sure hits hard… for a midget._

A second later, he felt a hard yank against the shoulder of his robe and suddenly he was no longer falling. Instead, he moved against gravity, being jerked upwards like a sack of dirty laundry, through the window once more.

He toppled into the room, colliding with the source of the mysterious strength.

The girl.

He and Rukia were in a tangled heap of limbs on the floor of her hospital room, each sporting a bump the size of a robin's egg on their heads.

"You idiot!" the girl yelled. "You could have been killed! What the hell is in that brain of yours? Carrots?"

Scowling at the insult, the orange-haired man replied; "What the hell is wrong with you? How can you accuse me? You were the maniac bitch who shoved me out of a window!"

"I DIDN'T THINK THAT YOU'D JUST SIT THERE AND LET YOURSELF FALL OUT OF A WINDOW!" Rukia roared back.

"YOU DIDN'T THINK AT ALL!" the man shouted at her.

There was a moment of silence.

"Ah… I guess you have a point." The raven-haired girl said softly. Her face was downcast, eyes hidden by the fringe of her hair.

"I almost got you killed. For that, I apologise."

"You think that an apology is enough?" he scowled.

"No, it isn't." she tonelessly replied. "But that's all I have to offer. I'm sorry."

Slightly taken aback by the girl's abrupt change of mood, the man fell into a surprised silence. "Er, well, I guess I accept your apology." He finally replied.

"Now," said the girl, much to the man's relief, in a normal tone (for her, that is). "My name is Kurenai Rukia. Who and what are you and what do you want with me?"

"Well, first things first, you don't need to know my name. Calling me 'shinigami' is fine, since you won't know me for long anyways. I am soul reaper, in other words a shinigami, I come from a place called Soul Society and my job normally is to exterminate evil spirits called hollows. I'm here on business that differs from the norm. You see, there is a law in Soul Society stating that a shinigami once killed cannot be reborn, only turned into reishi as part of the Soul Society and eventually after a long period of time, being reincarnated in a different form." Said the man.

"So…" frowned Rukia. "Basically you're saying that in my past life, I was a 'shinigami' and I killed evil spirits?" he nodded.

"And I died?" he nodded again.

"Your name was Kuchiki Rukia." there was a hint of sadness, guilt in his amber-brown eyes. She wondered why, and why the name 'Kuchiki' sounded oddly in her head.

"I have no proof that what you are saying is the truth." Rukia said. "This may all be some fanciful lie, heck, even if it was the truth, for what reason is there a law that prevents the rebirth of shinigami?"

"It's up to you whether or not you believe me. And as for the law—"

The man was interrupted by a blood chilling roar.

"What the hell was that?" Rukia gasped.

"That," the orange-haired man said with firm conviction in his voice "was an evil spirit. A hollow."

_What the hell? _Rukia was thinking to herself for what seemed to her the umpteenth time that day.

"Stay here," the man— no. Shinigami yelled. "I'll be back in a sec." with that, the young man leapt out of the window.

"Wait!" Rukia screamed. It seemed as though that man (shinigami or whatever he was) was mad after all. How did he expect to survive a fall that high up from the ground? He'd end up as a splat on the asphalt.

However, to her extreme astonishment, she saw the man flicker out of sight, and then reappear several meters away.

Suddenly, her eye was caught by something white. Slowly, a sickly white mask of bone materialized in her vision. Following the bone mask was a huge, grotesque body, faintly resembling an animal of some sort. The monster, for monster it was, had a large, black hole through the center of its chest. Then, once more, it let out the paralyzing scream. _Hollow_. The word sounded in her mind, oddly familiar.

She had no time to ponder this, as her attention was fully centered on the orange haired youth and his battle with the monster, hollow.

The young man rushed with great speed towards the monster. The monster in turn retaliated by sending a few of its long barbed tentacles at the man.

Rukia screamed. She felt sure that the tentacles would hit the man and send him flying into the wall across, broken and bleeding.

Contrary to her expectations, the man dodged the tentacles at the last second, swerving skilfully and raising his large curved sword to deliver a killing blow.

The girl's eyes widened. He had made a miscalculation!

The hollow was much faster than expected, and it's spiked tail, which had been previously lying still on the ground was whipping towards the side of the man.

"Shinigami!" Rukia screamed at the top of her lungs. "To your left!"

A second from impact, the young man's head snapped sideways and he immediately changed the angle of his sword so that he was able to block the hollow's attack.

Then, he proceeded to slice the mask of the hollow in half with a swift stroke.

As the body of the monster disintegrated into a shower of shining flakes, Rukia watched with a slight smile on her astonished face.

The shinigami sheathed his sword and sped up the side of the building and leapt into her window, landing without even a slight tremor on the tiled floor. He sent a look at her. "Do you believe me now?"

"Yeah, I guess." she replied. "How could I not after seeing that happen?"

Then, he grinned. "Thanks for the warning 'bout the hollow. It would've been a pain to use healing kido."

"What's that?" the girl asked confusedly.

"Nevermind." The shinigami muttered.

"No, tell me!" Rukia protested. "I want to know!"

"Fine!" the young man scowled. "Kido is the demon arts, I guess you could call it similar to magic, in a sense."

"Magic?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, the thing that powers kido is reiatsu. Spiritual power. You also need spiritual power to be able to manifest a zanpakuto and stuff. You have a certain amount of spiritual power, seeing as you can obviously see me even though I'm a spirit and you could also see the hollow."

"Oh." Said Rukia, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the deluge of information. "Where did you learn all this?"

"An important friend taught me." He replied, his voice sounding slightly off. "But normally, in order to become a shinigami, you'd have to go through a school for shinigami training."

"'School'" said Rukia, rolling the unfamiliar world around her mouth.

"Don't tell me you don't know what a school is either." Grimaced the orange-haired shinigami, ready to do a face palm.

"Well…" the girl's voice trailed off. "Technically, I've never been to school."

The young man stared at her, shocked. _Never been to school? Why the hell was it that some people had all the luck in life? or, judging from the girl's current expression, maybe not._ "How come?" he asked, mildly curious.

"I have an inherent terminal illness." She replied. Her voice was emotionless. "So I've been in the hospital under supervision since I was 6."

"How old are you now?" the man asked another question.

"15." Rukia said, her tone almost painfully blunt. "Plus, Shinigami, why are you asking all these questions and telling me all these things? Aren't you here to kill me? So why are we standing here chatting?"

"First of all," the man answered. "You were the one who started asking me questions. Secondly, I doubt the reasons behind killing you. So I'd rather wait for a while and see what happens before deciding my course of action. Killing someone for no reason doesn't exactly sit well with me."

"I see." Said the girl. At least his reasoning made sense, she thought. This had been one tiring morning.

"Anyways," the shinigami said, interrupting her train of thought. "I'll be back in a bit. There's something that I gotta take care of first."

"Explain more later." Rukia demanded.

"Fine," the carrot-top shinigami said with a smirk. "See you in a bit."

With that, he leapt out of her window once more, seeming to hover in suspension in the air for a moment before plunging down and disappearing.

_Oh boy_, Rukia thought to herself. This was getting more complicated by the second.

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><p>Please review, and tell me your opinion on this fic so far. Flames are ok too.<p>

Oh, and just in case you haven't already figured it out (if you've read Bleach, then you'd know), the shinigami in this fic is Ichigo.


	3. Chapter 3

I AM SO SORRY. WHAT KIND OF WORTHLESS EXCUSE OF AN AUTHOR AM I? Ok, that question requires no answer. Hmph. Not even 1000 words... I hate myself a hell of a lot right now. I know it's been months, and frankly, I'd be surprised if anyone stuck around.

Disclaimer: If Tite Kubo updated as slowly as I did, Bleach would have no fans. Don't own it.

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><p>.<p>

"—Kurosaki-san, you know that there will be conseq—" "Yeah, I ain't dumb. I know, but I don't care. Fuck the consequences. I'll take whatever those old farts throw at me."

Urahara Kisuke let out a sigh. He regarded the young man standing before him from under the brim of his hat. Clearly the boy wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"Very well, Kurosaki-san. Bear in mind, I am only doing this as repayment for the debts I owe you. Don't expect more favours in the future from me."

"Whatever." Ichigo scowled from the side of his mouth.

"Well then, since it seems like I will not be able to dissuade you of this notion, follow me." Ichigo complied, his long loping stride easily matching that of the shopkeepers.

Walking down a wood-floored hall, past a surprising number of doors. They turned a corner. In front of them was yet another cheap-looking wooden door.

Urahara slipped out a key from one of his robe's many pockets and unlocked it. The young man followed him inside, squinting slightly at the absence of light. "Here it is, Kurosaki-kun. All you have to do is step into it, though do be careful. I had to have this specially made so that it could withhold the sheer amount of spiritual power you possess. If you screw this up, there's nothing more I can do."

Grunting, Ichigo walked towards the gigai lying on the smooth metal table.

_This brings back memories… from the time when I actually had a body to call my own._

He was slightly surprised when he felt himself sink into the solid-looking body. It feltlike he had dived into a deep pool of water.

There was a moment of darkness.

Then, he could feel himself opening his eyes. His vision swam into focus, he could see the grey ceiling of the shop coming into view.

"Try to move your arm, Kurosaki-san. See if the gigai responds accordingly, or else I will make adjustments." He could feel sensation. Suddenly, Ichigo was aware of himself, a kind of physical awareness he had lacked. He lifted his arm up in front of his face. Groaning slightly, the young man swings his legs off the side of the cold metal and onto the floor. Planting his feet one in front of the other, he takes steps away from the table.

Ichigo's eyes light on a full-length mirror, propped up against the wall.

With one arm, he rips away the dust sheet covering it and marvels at the feel of his limbs, muscles stretching underneath his skin. Ichigo takes a step forward, regarding his own reflection.

He is tall for his age, with a lean physique. Scowling brown eyes. Eye-catching bright hair. Clad in a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt reading in bold black letters the slogan "Nice Vibe." He looked exactly the same as he used to.

The living, breathing him.

.

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><p>.<p>

.

The girl lets out a squirrely growl, a frown marring her pretty face, lips pouted. Drawing Chappy wasn't so blessedly distracting now. She couldn't freakin' concentrate. Not that her drawings weren't masterpieces deserving of a place in the Louvre Museum, but her heart just wasn't in it.

Rukia's mind kept wandering back to the source of her ire. At that thought, one of her Chappy drawings was violently beheaded. She stared down at its headless corpse in consternation.

That arrogant, jerkish (is that a word?), carrot-headed idiot who just happened to jump through her window, piss her off royally, then proceed to slice up a giant monster.

Still. He knew about her "past," if she could call it that. She'd swear the curiosity would kill her if the illness didn't first.

_Although… when that shinigami was talking about "me…" he did seem a bit off. I wonder what I was… who I used to be. I want to know… was I… happy..? Arrrgh! You're losing it, Rukia! Damn me, having conversations in my mind. With myself! I don't have much that shows what he told me wasn't some lie. _

She would just have to wait and see. Yes, she would have to wait. Damn, that was pissing her off. After all, she'd never liked waiting. Time went by, far too fast for her liking.

And she's always running out.

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><p><strong>AN:** Yup. That was absolutely shiteous. I wasted that much time writing this piece of filler crap. I'm contemplating dropping Branch of Sakura, since my mind keeps on spewing out this worthless shit. Ugh. I can't tell you that I'll update soon, but I really don't want to drop any fics because I hate it when other authors go on permanent hiatus, and I am NOT A HYPOCRITE! (most of the time)

If you actually read this fic, thank you so much! Whether u detest it with every fiber of your being, or you actually think it's half-decent, thanks :)

- Higanbana


	4. Chapter 4

1:34AM:

I'm sorry. I don't know what to say other than. I dislike giving up, but I can't continue like this. I have (regrettably) lost interest in the Bleach fanfiction universe, and I don't think that I can do the characters justice, as much as they deserve. From now on, all of my multi-chapter Bleach fics are discontinued, and I don't see it changing at all in the future. Please PM me if you'd like to adopt a story. I hate to see these fics not have a proper ending, but I don't think that I am capable of it.

I've been going through a lot of changes in my life recently… and more are coming. It's a little bit strange, and very sad, because lots of things are ending. It's like a fresh start… and I want to make something of that.

Thank you, all of you who read and/or reviewed. It really means a lot more than you might think. It made me really happy, to know that people were actually reading something I'd written. It's an amazing feeling… so, **thank you**. I'm sorry for taking so long (literally, years) to finally post this. And for blathering sappily on so much.

That's it, I guess. I hope… well, I don't know yet.

Laters,

Higanbana

1:46AM


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